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Job Today, a recruitment app aimed at restaurants and retailers, has raised $16m

Jack Torrance

11 September 2018 • 8:00 PM

A recruitment app that promises to find candidates a job in 24 hours has raised $16m (£12.3m) to help retailers and hospitality firms cope with short-notice staff shortages post-Brexit.

Job Today, which is based in Luxembourg but operates mostly in the UK and Spain, said it would use the cash to develop its mobile technology, which connects hiring managers at shops and restaurants directly with jobseekers looking to start work immediately.

The cash comes from existing backers Accel and Mangrove as well as New-York based venture capital firm 14w.

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A recruitment app that promises to find candidates a job in 24 hours has raised $16m (£12.3m) to help retailers and hospitality firms cope with short-notice staff shortages post-Brexit.

Job Today, which is based in Luxembourg but operates mostly in the UK and Spain, said it would use the cash to develop its mobile technology, which connects hiring managers at shops and restaurants directly with jobseekers looking to start work immediately.

The cash comes from existing backers Accel and Mangrove as well as New-York based venture capital firm 14w.

Polina Montano, one of Job Today’s founders, said many employers in the hospitality sector were already “feeling the pain” of some EU workers returning to their home countries in anticipation of the Article 50 deadline next year.

Official figures show 86,000 foreign EU nationals left the UK in the three months to June, the biggest fall on record.

Job Today's founders Eugene Mizin and Polina Montano

The shift is likely to be particularly challenging for retail and hospitality companies, which already face a high turnover of staff due to the casual nature of their work.

Job Today is used by recruiters at big names including Pret A Manger, Costa and Eat but hopes to grow by targeting small businesses, many of which still rely on offline recruitment methods such as posters in windows and word of mouth.

Launched in 2015, the app has so far signed up more than 5m jobseekers, 70pc of whom are under the age of 35.

It is aimed at young workers who Ms Montano said were seeking flexibility and ease when on the hunt for a job.

She added: “The strength in the company lies in connecting two very unique audiences which nobody has succeeded in so far.”

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The start-up currently operates on a "freemium" model, whereby the basic service is available free of charge but recruiters can pay for their listings to be given more prominence. It is currently testing other ways to monetise the service.

Ms Montano said: "If you're charging money before you provide good value, then chances are you're never going to grow. The value of a marketplace is in building this liquidity.”